Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Calais is a town and major ferry port in northern
France. Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the
English Channel, which is only 34 km (21 mi) wide here,
and is the closest French town to England. Due to its position, Calais since
the Middle Ages has been a major port and a very important centre for transport
and trading with England. The town was virtually razed to the ground during
World War II, when in May 1940, it was a strategic bombing target of the
invading German forces who took the town during the Siege of Calais. It continues to worry Britons due to the
problems of illegal immigrants entry.

Two illegal
immigrants have been identified after they drowned trying to swim the Channel
to Britain, it has emerged.Mouaz al-Balkhi was found dead on the Dutch island
of Texel last October, just days after buying a wetsuit at a shop near
Calais.The remains of Shadi Omar Kataf, from Syria, were discovered on exposed
coastline at Lista in the south of Norway on January 2.Their identities were
only revealed following months of research by the Norwegian newspaper
Dagbladet.

Entering England
swimming through English channel is not the option, yet these people tried –
and failed. A Home Office spokesman
said: “We are aware that this type of attempt to cross the Channel does happen,
but we are not aware of any particular trend, and nor have we seen an upturn in
this type of activity.”The number of illegal immigrants caught trying to enter
Britain clandestinely more than doubled last year, the National Crime Agency
has disclosed.The agency, dubbed “Britain’s FBI”, said in an annual review of
the threats facing the country warned the figures were likely to continue
rocketing.It said the most common type of illegal immigrant discovered last
year were those being trafficked for work exploitation.

Illegal migrants
desperate to get in to Britain have exploited the closing of Calais and travel
chaos on both sides of the Channel.Thousands of migrants who have massed at the
French port used a wildcat strike by French ferry workers to try and clamber on
to Britain-bound lorries that were left queuing for hours.By late afternoon,
hundreds of migrants lined junction 42 of the A16 motorway, the main entrance
for cars and lorries taking the Eurotunnel to the UK, approaching trucks in
small groups and trying to board by all possible means.Vastly outnumbered by
the migrants, riot police did their best to keep them at bay and away from the
lorries, hundreds of which were stuck in a huge tailback due to the closure of
the Channel tunnel.The lorries were either stationary or moving at a snail’s
pace as trains started to run once more after the day’s industrial action.

Away
from the entry of illegal immigrants – this report on BBC is different as it
speaks about ‘Underage African
footballers 'trafficked' to Laos’. African
footballers as young as 14 are being trafficked to Asia and forced to sign
contracts, the BBC has learnt.Six minors are still with top Laos side Champasak
United, after it imported 23 under-age players from West Africa to an
unregistered football academy in February, a BBC investigation found.Fifa
regulations prohibit the movement of players to a foreign club or academy until
they are 18.The club, based in the southern city Pakse, denies any wrongdoing
though.

It has been claimed
that Champasak United, a newly-formed club which plays in Laos' top league,
intends to profit by selling the players in future. One young African player at
the academy described his time at the club as 'like slave work' "It's hard
to live in a place with no windows", one young player told the BBC. In a clear breach of the world football
governing body's rules, the club has fielded overseas players as young as 14
and 15 in league games this season.One 14-year-old player, Liberia's Kesselly
Kamara, who scored in a full league game, says he was forced into signing a
six-year deal before playing for the senior team.His contract promised him a
salary and accommodation, but Kamara says he was never paid and had to sleep on
the floor of the club's stadium - as did the rest of the travelling party.
Kamara's contract promised him a salary of $200 a month.

"It was very
bad because you can't have 30 people sleeping in one room," Kamara, who is
now playing for a club back home in Liberia's top league, told the BBC.All
those who travelled to join the "IDSEA Champasak Asia African Football
Academy" did so after being invited by former Liberia international Alex
Karmo, who captained the club at the time.Young players gratefully accepted the
invitation, since Liberia lacks a football academy of its own, despite being
the only African country to have produced a Fifa World Footballer of the Year -
George Weah (1995).

"It's a
fictitious academy, which was never legally established," said Liberian
journalist and sports promoter WlehBedell, who led the group to Laos in
February but who has since returned. Players say they are rarely allowed to
leave the stadium compound, where they live and train. Following initial pressure from both Fifa and
global players' body FIFPro, Champasak released 17 teenagers from the original
party, with Kamara among them, three months ago.But six minors chose to remain.

"Players are
in this wild place that is reminiscent of the civil crisis in Liberia when
people left their homes and were displaced, [taking shelter] in a makeshift
building or auditorium," Bedell, who experienced his country's civil wars
of 1989-96 and 1999-2003, told the BBC.The minors' freedom of movement is restricted
by the fact that they became illegal immigrants in March after their visas ran
out. Many of the young academy players have contracts, but no work visas; they are
hoping to receive work permits but these are unlikely to arrive since all are
underage.

Some of those who
have returned to Liberia have told the BBC they were poorly fed, rarely paid
and received no medical assistance from the club despite contracting malaria
and typhoid because of the conditions.Evidence of clubs breaking regulations on
signing international players under 18 is rare but European champions Barcelona
are currently serving a transfer ban for this very offence.Meanwhile, the
parents of 12 boys found themselves in financial difficulty after taking loans
to pay $550 towards the cost of the trip to Laos, with one case currently in
the hands of Liberian police.